Brown seeks to defuse row with PM

Thursday 26 January 2006 00:09 BST

Gordon Brown has tried to defuse his simmering row with Tony Blair and appealed to his party to give him the chance to take on the Tories at the next election.

But his speech was swiftly engulfed by controversy when a report - furiously denied by Downing Street - claimed Cherie Blair had denounced him for lying when he lauded the Prime Minister and spoke of the "privilege" it had been working with him.

The Chancellor had desperately wanted to bury past differences and spoke openly of his "regret" that tensions between him and the Premier had distracted the party and the Government.

Mr Brown also sought to map out his own political and family history in a make-or-break speech to Labour conference delegates in Manchester.

He pledged a renewal of his party, the style of government and the country and received a three-minute standing ovation with warm applause from the watching Mr Blair.

But within minutes the Bloomberg news agency said Mrs Blair had said, as she saw the Chancellor's address on a TV monitor praising the Premier: "Well, that's a lie."

A Downing Street spokeswoman said in a statement: "This story is totally untrue."

The Chancellor, in his most direct appeal yet to succeed Mr Blair, told delegates: "I would relish the chance to take on David Cameron and the Conservative Party."

Seeking to smooth over weeks of Labour infighting, he promised: "In that endeavour I would be determined to draw on all the talents of our party and the country."

Mr Brown also tried to lay to rest the tensions between himself and the Prime Minister, lavishing praise on Mr Blair.